Welcome to the Punch

Welcome to the Punch

UK cinema poster
Directed by Eran Creevy
Written by Eran Creevy
Starring James McAvoy
Mark Strong
Andrea Riseborough
Production
company
Distributed by IFC Films (U.S.)
Momentum Pictures (U.K.)
Release date
  • 24 February 2013 (2013-02-24) (Glasgow Film Festival)
  • 15 March 2013 (2013-03-15)
Running time
 99 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $8.5 million
Box office £1.12 million[1]

Welcome to the Punch is a British action thriller released on 15 March 2013 by Momentum Pictures in the UK and Ireland. Written by Eran Creevy, the script had been placed on the 2010 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. With seven votes, the film was placed third.[2][3] The film is directed by Creevy, starring James McAvoy, Mark Strong, and Andrea Riseborough.[4][5]

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Ben Pugh and Rory Aitken of Between the Eyes, who also produced Eran Creevy's debut feature SHIFTY. Brian Kavanaugh-Jones also served as a producer on the movie with Worldview Entertainment. Ridley Scott and Liza Marshall of Scott Free executive produced the film.[6] Shooting took place mostly in London, starting 28 July.[7] Some of the interior and exterior scenes were filmed at London College of Communication in Elephant and Castle in August 2011.[8] City of Westminster College's Paddington Green Campus was used for the press conference scene.

Release

Welcome To The Punch premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival.[9] It debuted in third place in the United Kingdom on 15 March 2013, where it grossed £460,000 across 370 cinemas in its opening weekend.[10] In 2012 IFC Films bought distribution rights for the United States,[11] and it opened on 27 March 2013, where it grossed $9,747.[12] It was released on home video in the U.K. in July 2013.[13]

Reception

The film received a mixed, critical reception. Rotten Tomatoes sampled 49 reviewers and judged 51% of the reviews to be positive, with an average score of 5.6.[14] The site described the film as "a little deeper and more thoughtful than most police dramas – but not quite enough to surmount its thinly-written characters and numbing violence".[14] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 49 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average" reviews from 16 critics.[15] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated it 2/5 stars and called it an ambitious but predictable film that "runs out of steam" by the end.[16] Emma Dibdin of Total Film rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "There’s an emotional vacuum at its centre but Welcome To The Punch is an adrenalin shot to the heart of the Brit-crime genre."[17] Dan Jolin of Empire rated it 4/5 stars and called it "a confident, ambitious and action-rich Brit thriller, albeit one whose characters and clarity suffer from the frantic intensity of its pacing."[18] Guy Lodge of Variety described it as "a proficient but personality-free policer that demands little of either its audience or its enviable best-of-British cast".[19] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "But despite its fast pacing and well-staged action set-pieces, the film fails to make much of an impression."[20] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times called it "derivative, dumb fun".[21] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that it is an "enjoyable absurdity" that is unintentionally funny yet still recommended.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "The UK box office January - March 2013" (PDF). BFI. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Brit List 2010". Industrialscripts.co.uk. 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  3. ↑ Dawtrey, Adam (2010-11-06). "Brit List spotlights unproduced gems - Entertainment News, Film News, Media". Variety. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  4. ↑ "James McAvoy hits kerb filming car chase scenes for Welcome to the Punch". mirror.co.uk. 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  5. ↑ "James McAvoy cast in Welcome To The Punch". Britmovie. 2011-04-26. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  6. ↑ http://www.cityonfire.com/ridley-scott-produces-the-bullet-ridden-action-of-welcome-to-the-punch/
  7. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (2012-01-26). "Welcome To The Punch". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  8. ↑ "Film star McAvoy on set at LCC". Arts London News. 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  9. ↑ Sweeney, Samantha (2013-01-30). "Joss Whedon to attend Glasgow Film Festival". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  10. ↑ Sandwell, Ian (2013-03-18). "Oz the Great and Powerful holds firm at the UK box office". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  11. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (2012-07-18). "IFC Films takes US rights to Welcome To The Punch". Screen Daily.
  12. ↑ "Welcome to the Punch". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  13. ↑ Kermode, Mark (2013-07-27). "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  14. 1 2 "Welcome to the Punch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to the Punch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  16. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (2013-03-14). "Welcome to the Punch – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  17. ↑ Dibdin, Emma (2013-03-07). "Welcome To The Punch". Total Film. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  18. ↑ Jolin, Dan. "Welcome To The Punch". Empire. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  19. ↑ Lodge, Guy (2013-03-15). "Film Review: 'Welcome to the Punch'". Variety. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  20. ↑ Scheck, Frank (2013-03-26). "Welcome to the Punch: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  21. ↑ Abele, Robert (2013-03-28). "Review: 'Welcome to the Punch' lacks just that yet still entertains". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  22. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (2013-03-26). "Smooth Operators Slink Into the Desolate Night". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
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